Kate Withers - 'Painting Space'

Here are the first layers of color... mainly ultramarine blue, manganese thalo, cadmium red deep, cadmium red light and a little naples yellow. I will be expanding this limited palette somewhat.. but this piece is based on a blue/red concept. You can see the shapes are taking on a life of their own already. Long ways to go....

Started a new painting from one of my photos taken in early fall... the Paria River Canyon area.. 24x24 oil .. one of my favorite areas.. a relatively unknown vast high desert region of the Grand Staircase NM.. just on the border between Arizona and Utah. A painter could spend a lifetime in that wonderland. Here are two versions of the structure.. the initial layin.. a de-saturated version and the drawing I did on the canvas with my brush... prussian blue over a dried flesh-colored acrylic wash.. just to seal the canvas and cut the white glare. I find this the only good use for any 'flesh' named paint.. the earth as corporeal. Onwards!

Still working on this piece...getting there. I am posting all these versions of a painting so you and my students can see how a painting might evolve. Complex works of art demand lots of problem-solving.. and answers that serve both the original conception and the painting's evolution towards a conclusion that presents itself as felt. This conclusion is usually not the artist's choice alone...the painting speaks and has it's own life.. it seeks full symbolic manifestation. The artist acts as a medium and a partner in this process.

Here is today's effort.. more painting on the rocks and the dark dark underpainting for the water. After this dries somewhat.. I will apply thin paint in lighter colors for the reflections.. but the rocks need to be mostly finished before attempting this.

Taking the underpainting from the previous post further... refined the drawing of the shapes and experimented with this uncommon limited palette: naples yellow, jaune brilliant, yellow ochre, orange ochre, mars violet, permanent madder, cobalt turquoise, cobalt blue and mineral violet... basically using the complementary pair.. yellows and purples. I can mix wonderful soothing colors from this combination.. the mood and light of this must be maintained by close values and subtle temperature changes within the shapes. Interesting!

Here is the initial underpainting of my current project.. cobalt turquoise and magenta only.. 20x30 canvas. This will be painted from a photo I took while working at Lake Powell one summer while on one of my many houseboat expeditions. The concept is on feeling.. the quiet hour at sunset looking for a good place to shelter the boat for the night. The water is usually calm then... the desert winds dying down... the massive rocks veiled in soft grayed colors. Peace reigns.

24x24     oil on canvas I decided on a major change... now there is a larger juniper tree in the foreground and more bushes on the slopes. I needed to break-up the orange shape on the right.. it was too much and was competing with the main focus.. the towering citadel of stone. I also needed to balance the dark masses ..more of an entrance feeling. So don't be afraid to go for it.

Finished!.. [well except for a couple more strokes of paint]. On to the next project.. I'm thinking skies. The early spring skies have been amazing here in southern Nevada.. and I feel I want to do something more abstract and not as detailed. I need a break!

About 7/8 done.. getting closer. These large paintings are fun but can take a long time to complete.. probably a couple more days [weeks] in the studio. You can compare this version to the earlier underpainting post and see how it has evolved. Colors used are a fairly limited palette... naples yellow, cad orange, two earths [light red and terra rosa], two blues [prussian and ultramarine].. and a violet. 24x24 oil on gallery-wrapped canvas. Onwards.

Slow going on this piece... getting the values and lighting right is a challenge. There is something about this that I am not happy with.. haven't been able to put my finger on it yet.. but I will. The halfway mark is usually the most difficult part of the painting. Each piece 'wants' to come to fruition and needs me to concentrate and be open.. it's a synergistic process. The next post will be the finished piece [maybe].. and I expect it will be quite different than this image [like what happened to the "Queen of Spades Range']. So back to the easel!

Last night I quickly did the color underpainting for this piece.. prussian blue, cadmium red light, and an earthy light red. I was able to do this so fast because the drawing I did earlier was easy to follow [one reason why drawing is important]. Of course there are always areas of a composition that are problematic.. but eventually they will be designed to belong. The concept has to do with the awe one feels when driving into Zion Canyon.. intimate yet grand.

The concept for this piece is based on a b&w photo I took while working in Zion Canyon last summer.   From that.. I drew with a brush and some muddy oil paint I had on my palette diluted with lots of thinner... just a rough sketch on the canvas.  This is only a guide.. the painting will evolve as it will when I add colors. Stay tuned!

I am calling this finished! Of course there are always tweaks to be done... but I am on to the next project.. a large painting of the road into Zion Canyon. The concept of this piece came from the painting's title. *There really isn't a range named the 'Queen of Spades'* .. it is named for the strong paisley patterns that are found on the alluvial slopes of deep desert mountains. So here it is.. 24 x 24 oil on canvas. *Update a couple years later:  I am re-working this painting yet again!  I guess I just needed some time away from it .. I was never happy with the composition .. the balance was lopsided.. really liked the concept tho.. so back to the drawing board it goes :)

Getting towards the finish on this piece.. paint is too wet for the final layer.  I changed the design yet again and added more color... the warm reflected light from the sky on the alluvial fan below.  Still have to figure out the foreground and the cast shadow area.  The next post on this painting will be when it is completely finished [never!] Hopefully soon...

Here is where I am in this painting... still working my way through the color harmony... design is very close to where I want it... minor tweaks to be done.  But the colors and values are not where I want them yet.  Back to the easel!

Today's work left me at about the halfway mark.. spent time adjusting the design and also decided to show some shadow from the mountain ... that put the dry lake in darkness.. I didn't think viewers would understand the lighting if only the mountains were in shadow.  Added a few more colors... cadmium red light, permanent madder, and cobalt blue.. hard to use just a few!

Here is today's effort... the first layer of paint over the blue underpainting.  The medium I am using is an exotic smelling mixture.. spike lavender oil, dammar varnish, stand oil, and real turpentine... pungent and intoxicating.. wonderful!  So far the colors used are gold ochre, terra rosa, prussian blue and ultramarine deep.  The values need major adjusting and you can see the design has already changed.. and will again as it evolves.. a somewhat complex patterned piece. I painted while listening to the great Beethoven's third... music while working is inspiring... puts bounce in the brush.  This piece is like a giant puzzle... all the colors and shapes have to work together... a symphony in paint.

Back in the studio! The above image is the original concept pencil sketch for this painting from my sketchbook.. and below is the underpainting done with one of my favorite colors.. prussian blue. I find it much better than the popular thalo.. it has subtle qualities especially when mixed. This piece will be painted using a limited palette.. more on that later... but the focus is on design.. the paisley patterns of a desert alluvial fan ending in a luminous dry lake bed. The light is late afternoon with most of the mountains in shadow... hence the blue blue underpainting. This is on a 24x24 gallery-wrapped canvas that will require very little framing if any...  maintaining a contemporary abstract feel. The values here are not what they will be with color... the shapes are what I needed as a guideline for my paint strokes and are not set in stone. We will see where this goes...

We are in the process of moving SpaceCamp to the high elevations of Great Basin National Park. Since I am not painting these past couple weeks.. I will post a few photos of a more personal note.. interior shots of my canvas tent studio when it was set up near the rim of the Grand Canyon for three years. Fellow artists would be interested to peruse my working space.. always good to see other art studios.. I know it always gives me energy to continue. So here they are... .. working on 'Nankoweap Noon' .. a 30x40.. still working on the comp .. how I organize my paints [spectrum layout... warm to cool of each color group.. and always way more colors than I need just in case I decide to try a different color than my usual palette..  I own over 250 oils [not all displayed here].. always room for a new color .. my computer work area and one of my small desert studies .. sold already .. working at night ... those are 5000k daylight fluorescents above the easel ...

5x7 oil on canvas panel A study of a Lake Powell sandstone bluff... another one I am in the process of completing. I like to have several paintings going at the same time.. also different sizes.. keeps it interesting and fresh.  Working on many pieces at once also allows layers to dry.. important for highlights. The paint on this piece is quite thin.. mostly turps.. the first third of the work is done. I also wanted to do a study without the clash of opposites which usually finds it's way into my paintings. This little oil is about the comfort of close relatives.. the calm that pervades a painting when the hues are not opposites on the color wheel.   Here.. it is lavenders and earth colors unified under a silvery light .... mellow.